English Hinglish
Posted on December 17, 2018“Is English your first language?”
Just as for all the other questions on the online application for grad school, I re-read it multiple times. It seemed like a query with an easy, simple answer but I was conflicted. My intuition said yes, but my logic nudged me to re-confirm what first language exactly meant,
“Someone’s first language is the language that they learned first and speak best; used especially when someone speaks more than one language.” [1]
I pondered over the definition. Though I did not recall which language I learned first, Gujarati or English, I am certain my English is better by a decent margin. It is also the language I think in, and for all that the university should care, I had done all my formal education in it. Further, to prove my eloquence in the language, I had also been required to take either the IELTS or the TOEFL, both lengthy and expensive but very basic examinations of one’s speaking, writing and listening skills. The cause of these tests seemed redundant to me. Was it possible that we were all talking of different types of English? Maybe, maybe not.
Among the twenty-two official languages of India, English finds a spot similar to that of Hindi – widely spoken and not specific to a region. [2] Some surveys claim India boasts a reasonable number of English speakers, close to a third of the population, and why would it not be? You will know if you have ever walked on an Indian street that the radio you hear blaring from a nearby pan shop plays a Bollywood song with English smoothly woven into its lyrics, the rickshaws you see will have broken English claiming their love for family or such, and most of all the signages you will follow will be in two languages, and one will always be English. These are just a few examples of the language’s omnipresence.
Image Courtesy: The Daily Moss
For a well paying job in the country, a good understanding of the language is a mandate. A large number of schools and most higher education use English as their medium of instruction. Knowledge of the language asserts a better status in society and a strong connection to the world.[3] It however, is also glaring evidence of linguistic imperialism and our colonial past, [4] its effects so far felt that several millennial generations speak English alone.[5]
“English is unifying us with the rest of the world but alienating us from our familial and cultural roots,” says Mr. Nagaraj, who still turns to Kannada metaphors when he needs to drive home a point.” [6]
Just as Mr. Nagaraj, most Indians pepper their speech with words and phrases from regional languages and most popularly, Hindi, giving birth to Hinglish. Definitely a tongue Indians are more fluent in than pure English by itself, it has gained popularity in speech as a demonstration of a modern, global Indian who acknowledges the ties to their roots.[7] It is a classic case of what Arjun Appadurai explains the globalisation of culture to be in his text, “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” Metaphorically speaking, if water were the English language, and sugar, salt, lemon each were representative of the different cultures the British have hegemonized, we would get solutions that are compositionally different and that would illustrate the variations of English that exist around the world such as Nigerian English, American English and Indian English/Hinglish.
Image Courtesy : The Hinglish Project
“The globalisation of culture is not the same as its homogenisation, but globalisation involves the use of a variety of instruments of homogenisation which are absorbed in local political and cultural economies, only to be repatriated as heterogenous dialogues of national sovereignty, free enterprises, etc.”[8]
The mixing has happened both ways. There are several words the language owes to Hindi as well such as avatar, bungalow, cashmere, chutney, dungarees, gymkhana, juggernaut, etc. Portsmouth College in the UK is also offering Hinglish lessons to young Britons to conduct business in India. They claim it to be a language that is preferred by the Indian business community, and effective to tap into acknowledging that it is the world’s seventh largest economy, growing more rapidly than others.[9]
Another influence of the hegemony implemented by both Hindus and the British is that there exists a certain casteism within that of English speakers in India as well. Based on the accent, one can tell where the person comes from, and gauge (unfairly) the level of education and exposure they have had. There exists a vast array of Indian accents from that that was heavily criticised of Appu of Simpsons fame, to those with a certain ‘clipped’ accent, the likes of Shashi Tharoor, whose speech sounds colloquial, almost as though they were in the company of the British in a pre-independence era. It is common for those at the higher end of the pyramid to mock the grammar and pronunciation of those with thick regional accents, and American and British accents are still considered impressive.[10]
Outside of the community, the 70% of Indians who do not speak English, most of whom are poor, often view it as a pathway to a good life. Ubiquitous as the language is, it still is very difficult to get access to good English education. To help liberate the underprivileged, Chandra Bhan Prasad has built a temple dedicated to the Goddess English in a village in Uttar Pradesh. He wants to adapt the Islamic ritual of ‘ Azaan’ but to play the alphabet over the loudspeakers instead, so that English is not just the language of the elite, but is for everyone.[11]
Further, the nationalist sentiment of restricting communication to regional languages and Hindi is almost a luxury, for this notion restricts expanding business and access to the rest of the world. People like Mr. Prasad, who are also strong voices of the Dalit community, are suspicious of this nationalist sentiment and where it is stems from. Was it not this very culture that enforced the caste system centuries ago, the perils of which are still felt today?[12]
So, yes, English is my first language. It may sound different because of my accent, or because of the words I choose to use. English comes in various types, and today as I write this blogpost, it gives me great satisfaction to look at the words, English (Indian) at the bottom of my screen.
-HM
[1] Collins Dictionary
[2] Rajya Sabha, Official languages Act, 1963
[3] Joseph, Manu, “India Faces a Linguistic Truth: English Spoken Here,” for the New York Times, Feb 2011
[4] Appadurai, Arjun,”Disjucture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.”
[5] Rai, Saritha, “India’s New ‘English Only’ Generation,” for The New York Times, June 2012
[6] ibid., 5
[7] Chand, Vineeta, “The rise and rise of Hinglish in India,” for The Conversation, Feb 2016
[8] Appadurai, Arjun,”Disjucture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.”
[9] Spary, Sara, “‘Glassi’? ‘Chuddies’? Hinglish lessons offered for first time to help Britons win business in India, “ for the Telegraph, March 2018
[10] Joshi, Ruchir, “The ‘neutral’ Indian accent: We have been guilty of a kind of verbal savarnitis,” for The Hindu, March 2018
[11] Joseph, Manu, “India Faces a Linguistic Truth: English Spoken Here,” for the New York Times, Feb 2011
[12] ibid., 11